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Defined Contribution Plans
The market may be up right now, but it’s no secret that it can be a rollercoaster, with peaks and valleys that can be quite dramatic and jarring. Those undulations affect many people — and those saving for retirement are among them. In a recent article in FiduciaryNews, Christopher Carosa offers...
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Much has been said about the shift from defined benefit to defined contribution plans. It’s really conventional wisdom. To be sure, an employer and plan administrator will have to contend with regulatory details in making such a change — but they’re not the only parties for which that transition...
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There is qualified good news for retirement plans based on results concerning second quarter and July performance, according to two recent analyses.Average 401(k) and IRA balances grew from the first to the second quarter of 2016, reports Fidelity Investments. Average 401(k) balances grew by almost...
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Defined contribution plans have grown and proliferated, while the converse has been true for the defined benefit universe. That’s not secret. But what may be more unusual is the argument BNY Mellon makes in a recent paper that applying the principles of DB plan administration can benefit DC plans....
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It’s hard to believe, but the Pension Protection Act of 2006 will be a decade old next month. And it’s probably done more good for the nation’s retirement security than most realize.The PPA drew its name from the portions targeted at shoring up defined benefit plans (and PBGC funding, I suppose),...
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The expense ratios that 401(k) plan participants incur for investing in mutual funds have declined substantially since 2000, according to a report from the Investment Company Institute (ICI).In 2000, 401(k) plan participants incurred an average expense ratio of 0.77% for investing in equity funds....
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Yet another financial services provider finds itself accused of financial self-dealing in the operation of its 401(k) plan.The most recent suit, brought in the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri Western Division by a current and former participant of the American...
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We’ve just posted the latest issue of Plan Consultant magazine on ASPPA Net. The Summer issue features a cover story on the rise of robo record keeping and addresses whether today’s tech-based start-ups constitute an opportunity or a threat to traditional players.In addition, an excerpt from...
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Employer-provided retirement benefits in general are holding steady, according to the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM). In “2016 Employee Benefits: Looking Back at 20 Years of Employee Benefits Offerings in the U.S.,” SHRM reports that some aspects of employer-provided retirement...
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This year, there were three named tropical systems in the Atlantic Ocean by June 5 — the first time ever that there were three named storms by such an early date. And two of them made landfall in the United States. With the official Atlantic hurricane season just begun (the National Oceanic and...
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In a new report published by the American Enterprise Institute and supported by the Bradley Foundation, I and several of my colleagues — Jim Capretta and Robert Doar of AEI, Ron Haskins of the Brookings Institution and Yuval Levin of the Ethics and Public Policy Center — look into how to reform...
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I’ve long enjoyed John Oliver’s take on the world. He has a gift for bringing humor to subjects that aren’t generally seen as funny, and in the process not only helps make complex topics more approachable, he gives voice to the frustration that millions surely feel at the world around us.That said...
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Last Week Tonight with John Oliver recently included a segment that was deeply critical of the financial services industry and specifically referenced the 401(k) plan that the show’s production company has with John Hancock. Here’s John Hancock’s response.“As could have been inferred from the...
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Last week, House Republicans released the first of six documents detailing their policy agenda, a portion of which included recommendations to “build retirement security through the private retirement system.” The most notable aspect of the report, however — a blueprint from the Task Force on...
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The head of one of the world’s largest asset managers is calling for a mandate of retirement savings.In what was described as an “open letter to Congress,” Ron O’Hanley, president and chief executive officer of State Street Global Advisors (SSgA), which has about $2.4 trillion in assets under...
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I recently stumbled across another of those “DC plans are becoming like DB plans” articles — you know, the so-called “DB-ification” of 401(k)s? This is all supposed to be a good thing, of course, but is it?We are, of course, routinely told that defined benefit plans do (or did) a better job of...
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The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has examined the impact of low defined contribution plan savings rates, but the real problem may lie elsewhere.The analysis, which bears the characteristically descriptive, but somewhat understated title, “Low Defined Contribution Savings May Pose...
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Every so often someone puts out a list of what are said to be the “best” 401(k) plans, based on varied benefits and plan design structure criteria. But for my money, here’s what the best plans do.Make it easy to start — right.No matter how well done the materials, the time allotted to education...
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The latest issue of IRS Employee Plans News includes reminders regarding the compliance questions that had been added to the Form 5500, mid-year amendments to safe harbor 401(k) plans and notices and the 2015 reference lists.Issue no. 2016-3 of Employee Plans News, which the IRS issued on Feb. 29,...
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On Jan. 29, the IRS released proposed regulations that are expected to significantly affect the design and economics of defined contribution plans that test for nondiscrimination on the basis of equivalent benefit accrual rates. These plans are often referred to as “new comparability” or “cross-...
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